Right towards the center of the city is a large park known as Aucklan domain. It’s home to a large number of sports fields for public use, a thousand perfect picnic spots, statues both traditional and modern, and the Auckland museum, which dominates the area from its position on high ground. You can really tell that New Zealanders value keeping in touch with their land from the fact that they put so much valuable real estate to being a natural refuge in the city.

The Museum

The Auckland Museum is combination of several museums all tied into one. It is both a cultural museum, with several displays on Polynesian culture and artifacts including a damn impressive 25 meter war canoe, as well as a natural history museum and war memorial. There are three floors, each with different exhibits, as well as a travelling exhibit area. We even got to experience Read more

I have been living in Japan for the past 7+ years and I love being there. In general, the food to be found in Japan, especially in Tokyo, is amazing and you are hard pressed for find a bad meal. It does, however, have one critical flaw: a sever lack of good Mexican restaurants.

Image my excitemen (and drool) when we came across a Mexican restaurant tucked back into a side street in Auckland. Jalapenos is run by a number of Mexican immigrants (as well as our lovely Columbian waitress), and serves traditional and delicious Mexican dishes with enough on the plate to make you immediately aware that you are no longer in Japan (a land of small servings).

The food was amazing, the atmosphere was chill, and the people were extremely friendly. If you happen to be in Auckland, I highly recommend it. It might not be traditional New Zealand food, but trust me, you’ll forgive yourself.